What belongs together
by ScarletWitchHuntress
Summary: Unfortunate events lead Pietro and Wanda to Venice, where they make some new friends...
1. Chapter 1

Wanda's POV

I was sitting on my bed in the huge dormitory I inhabited with 19 other girls. This had been my home for the last three years, and although it lacked the warmth of a real home, I had grown quite used to this place, this orphanage where my brother Pietro and I had found refuge after our parents had died.

Our parents. I still remember everything about them and I often dream about the terrible night when they died. Pietro and I were ten and we were eating supper with our parents, when the first shell hit our house, two floors below us. It tore a hole in the floor, which swallowed our parents. Pietro and I crawled under the bed, while the house started collapsing. Suddenly, another shell landed right in front of us. I closed my eyes and tightly held on to Pietro's hand, hoping that everything would soon be over. But nothing happened. After a while the bombing stopped and the ruins that had once been our house had stopped crumbling. My brother and I were lying under the bed, coughing from all the dust and freezing from the cold wind that now blew through the remains of our flat. We did not dare to move, though, with the shell lying right there, probably going off if there was the slightest movement, blowing us to pieces. It took two days for us to be saved. All this time I never let go of Pietro's hand. We had always been close, we were twins after all, but I feel that we grew even closer together during those two days of horror. But now we were to be separated.

Two weeks ago, one of the few rich families in Sokovia had visited the orphanage, because they wanted to adopt a girl as a companion to their 14-year-old daughter. I don't know why, but their choice was to adopt me. Only me. Pietro would have to stay behind, here, in the orphanage. When I told him everything, he went quiet at first, but then, to my astonishment, he started trying to make me believe that this was the best. I would be living in a good family after all, where I would receive better care than he or any orphanage could ever give me. He tried to act happy for my sake, but I could sense that the coming separation bothered him just as much as it bothered me. I really didn't want to go, but there was nothing I could do against it.

When the family's driver arrived in a beautiful black car, it was time for me and Pietro to say goodbye to each other. He gave me one last hug, told me he would write to me and to be good, and reminded me that this was for the better. I tried to stay strong, but I was unable to stop the tears that came when I had to let go of Pietro. Leaving him behind felt like leaving a piece of myself, a large piece. I looked back at Pietro and the orphanage until both went out of sight, then I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, trying to keep Pietro and his last hug as fresh in my memory as possible. Not knowing when or even if I would ever see him again was giving me a feeling of desperation that was almost as strong as the one I had when we were waiting to be killed by that shell. At least we had each other back then. But that was over now.

The driver pulled up in front of a white house with two floors, a veranda and a huge garden. So this was to be my home from now on. The driver opened my door so I could step out. Now I would meet the people I would have to call Mama and Papa from now on, which felt wrong, because they were strangers. I didn't know anything about them and they didn't know anything about me. I had also heard that I would now have a sister. She was the only one I could not blame for my misery, but I did not want to stay with her, I wanted to stay with Pietro. I decided to try to befriend her, at least, and be nice to her, even though I was sure that I would never be able to accept her as a sister. When I made my way to the stairs, the front door was opened by a maid-servant who introduced herself as Greta and welcomed me with a smile. She also told me that my new family was not present at the moment, they would return during the late afternoon. I must mean a lot to them, when they are not even there on my arrival. The maid-servant ushers me up the stairs and into a bathroom. She tells me that my new mother had instructed her to bathe me and dress me for dinner, so I would look presentable. I looked at myself in one of the big mirrors in the bathroom that was almost as large as our old flat. In my eyes I looked quite presentable, even though I was quite skinny. I was wearing a grey dress that went down to my knees, white socks and black shoes. My long brown hair was braided in a braid down my back and I was wearing the bracelet with the red flower that Pietro gave me to our ninth birthday. Whatever those people would do, I was determined to never take it off. It was the only connection to Pietro I had here.

After I had been scrubbed and bathed so much that I thought I might dissolve, I was dressed in a light pink dress and sandals. My hair was rolled up and dried, so that it now fell in little ringlets that were then pinned up. When I took another look at myself, there was another girl standing there, one I had never seen before. I looked like a princess from a fairytale, but it did not feel right. The feeling that I did not belong here was growing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pietro's POV**

As long as I remember, I have always looked out for and taken care of Wanda; after all, I am 12 minutes older than her. I took my responsibility as the older brother even more seriously after our parents died in a bombing, so when she told me that a rich family was going to adopt her, I had to put my own feelings aside and do what was best for her. I knew that she would never want to leave me, I don't want us to be separated either, but if she has the chance to have a better life, it is my responsibility to make sure she takes this chance. So, instead of giving in to my sadness, I tried to act all happy, trying to convince her, that this was the best that could happen to her. I am quite sure she didn't buy it, though; she can usually tell what is really going on with people, especially with me. It did not matter, she was leaving and there was nothing any of us could do against it.

The day Wanda leaves comes too soon for both of us, but I manage to stay strong through this goodbye. I look after the car until it is out of sight, then I slide down the wall and sit on the stairs, my head rested on my hands. There are no tears; I haven't cried since my parents died, but it does feel strange. Until now we have never been separated and the first separation will probably be for a very long time. I try to comfort myself with the idea that Wanda will have a full belly tonight, will be sleeping in a comfortable bed and have a bright future.

When the clock strikes six I get up and get myself ready for the meagre dinner that awaits me. Automatically, I look over to the place at the girl's table, where Wanda usually sits. Her place is not occupied by another girl yet, but I do miss the conversations we had during meals. Of course, we did not really talk verbally, we rather communicated with our eyes and face. I realise that I start missing her and quickly distract myself by throwing a small piece of the hard bread crust at Teo, the boy sitting opposite me. It hits him right in the face and when he finds the little crumb he knows exactly who threw it. Luckily, he isn't someone who likes to tell tales, otherwise I would have been in trouble again. Wanda usually manages to stay out of trouble and even lectures me, when I did something, but I have always had the tendency to act before thinking things through to the end. Of course, this also has some advantages. I am quite good at about every kind of sports, because I don't have to think about what I will do next, I simply act on my gut's feeling.

This way I also saved Wanda and myself the night our parents died. There was no time to think, so I pulled her with me under the bed. Right now it feels different, though. Even though I am sure that Wanda leaving the orphanage was right, my gut says that this was not a good idea. But what choice is there? The only thing I can do is write to her as often as possible and try to make a living for myself, outside of this place, so I can maybe let her live with me. With that in mind, I try to go to sleep. I just hate it, when I am unable to change things.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wanda's POV**

If my first impression was that I didn't belong into this weird world full of rich people, I was completely right, even though I would say that I am not even wanted here. The first few days were a series of banquets, visits and fine dresses; they showed me off and told everyone about my tragic story. They never mentioned that they stole me from the only family I had left: my twin-brother Pietro. Probably because it would make them look like the heartless people they are. After I had been shown to enough of the right people, the attention I was given by the people that adopted me dropped to a zero. I realized that their daughter did not get too much attention, either, and I had planned to befriend her anyway, so I made my best efforts to be nice to her and find something we have in common. This was rather difficult, as her main interests were fashion, gossip, make-up and boys. I didn't mind nice dresses, but fashion has never been something I thought about. Our parents used to buy us clothes and we wore them until they were torn and in the orphanage we usually even kept on wearing the clothes until they could not be mended anymore. Good clothes were meant for special occasions, and even then it did not matter if they were fashionable. Gossip was not my thing either, I didn't care about rumours about other people, I rather liked to get to know them myself. Boys and make-up may be nice, but I guess I will wait until I am older until I start thinking about any of those two. It is really interesting, how much difference one year may make.

School is quite hard either. I attend a small private school now, but everyone knows where I actually come from and they frequently make fun of me, or worse. Even the teachers are a little prejudiced, although I manage to keep track of everything that is taught in the lessons and have better grades than some of my classmates, which does not add to my popularity. My so-called adoptive sister does not help me in any way at school though. When some people from her class cornered me during lunch one day to tell me in a not-so-nice way to get back where I come from, she just walked by, not even looking at me. I would be glad about the approaching holidays, if they didn't mean that I would be even further away from Pietro. The family I live with is planning to go to Italy for a few weeks and I have no other choice than to go with them. I try not to think about everything too much, but most of the time I wish that I could fulfill my schoolmates' wishes and really go back.

The only thing that has made me happy during the last days are letters from Pietro. I write to him almost every day and try to keep the letters as cheery and happy as possible, even though I feel bad for lying to him. Technically, I am not lying, I am only leaving out the bad parts. It would not help anyway, if he knew what was really going on. I can't leave this place and he can't come and live here, so why should I worry him? I will have to take care of myself now.

 **Pietro's POV**

It has already been more than three weeks since Wanda had left the orphanage. Still, it is very hard not to have her around; we don't even see each other at school anymore. At least we both have the letters. I never liked reading or writing too much, but now I could not get enough of writing letters to Wanda and in turn answering hers. I realized a worrying shift in her manner of writing, though. At the beginning her letters were full of her new experiences and the strange aspects of living with rich people. Those things are still there, too, but now it seems, as if she is hiding something, not telling the whole truth.

Apparently, I seem to have changed, too. The people in the orphanage and the teachers at school keep shooting worried glances at me, when they think I am not looking, but, of course, I realise it. I have stopped most of my mischief at school and in the orphanage and even started paying attention in the most boring classes. If I want to make a living for myself and eventually get Wanda back, I must put in some honest and hard work. Even the occasional shop-liftings are a thing of the past now. I never stole anything of value, only the occasional bag of sweets, which Wanda would refuse to eat, even if they were her favourites. She would be happy and perhaps even proud, if she knew that I have given up on stealing. I know it is selfish and unrealistic, but I wish she was here with me again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Wanda's POV**

That's it. I will not stay with those people any longer. I would rather live back in the orphanage or even on the street than spend another minute in this prison. Until now I have stayed here so Pietro wouldn't have to worry about me, but I just can't stand it anymore. Not if they try to take him from me and me from him forever.

In a few days we would be leaving for a holiday in Italy, so I asked the people who adopted me, whether it was possible that I stayed behind or that we could take Pietro with us, so that we could spend some time with each other after a two-month separation. Their reactions were awful. They told me to forget about the only real family I had left, because I was supposed to be a part of theirs now. They even told me that they would put a stop to me sending him letters, because that was, according to them, a hindrance to my integration in the family. When I protested they tried to make me feel guilty about not trying to fit in after all they had done for me, after all their generosity. This was enough. I had tried to keep my temper, but this was too much. I told them that I hated them and that they would never be my family. Then I stormed out of the room, threw myself on my bed and released all the tears I had held back during the last weeks. After I had cooled down a little, I took out a piece of paper and wrote a letter to Pietro. I climbed out of the window and headed straight to the next post box.

"You should better turn around and go back". I almost jumped, when I heard the family's daughter behind me. She had followed me, but I had been too upset to realise it. "Why should I?" I spat, "No one really wants me there anyway! And by the way, none of you belongs to my family!" My anger, which had ebbed down a little on the way here, threatened to boil up again. I felt her hand wrapping around my arm. "If you don't come with me, I will make you. My parents have done so much for you and I will not allow you to be so ungrateful." I know that I can't do anything against her. Although I was quite tall for my age, I was far skinnier than her, so she really could have made me go with her. I had no other choice than to go back to the place I hated so much. I just hoped that I would be able to run away before we went to Italy.

 **Pietro's POV**

When I received Wanda's letter, I couldn't believe what I was reading. I reread the letter at least three times, before I realized what it meant.

 _Dear Pietro,_

 _I am so, so sorry, but I can't stay here. They want me to stop having any contact with you, but I don't fit in here. I hate the school I attend; I hate the family I am living with; I hate everything about this new life. I never told you anything, because I didn't want you to worry, but I feel that you have to know .I hope that I will manage to run away before we are leaving for Venice, Italy. I won't be able to return to the orphanage, because they might return me to those people. I don't think they care for me, but I am sure they would do it out of cruelty. I don't know where I will end up, but everywhere it's better than here._

 _I will message you, when I managed to get out of here. Please don't do anything stupid or reckless._

 _I love you and hope to see you anytime soon._

 _Your sister, Wanda_

As soon as her words had made their way into my brain, I knew that I had to do something. I grabbed my schoolbag, stuffed two sweatshirts, some underwear and socks in it and was almost out of the door, when I remembered that I might need some food. I have sneaked into the kitchen so often during the last three years, it became second nature. I take some fruit, cheese and bread with me, hoping that I would find enough to drink among the way.

It takes some time for me to find the area where Wanda lives and then some more to find the exact house. When I ring the bell a maid opens the door. I tell her that I am a classmate of Wanda and ask whether I could speak to her, but she only answers that the family has left for a holiday and that no one would be here for the next few weeks. I try not to show any reaction to these news and thank her. So they are already gone. This leaves me only one choice: I somehow have to get to Italy.

As I don't have much money, travelling legally will be quite difficult. However, I manage to sneak on trains headed south and arrive in Hungary. There I take another train to Austria, where I am almost caught without a ticket by a conductor, but a woman covers for me. She seems to know that I am a runaway, because she offers me some food and drink without wanting to have an explanation for me travelling without a ticket. I thank her and try not to eat all the food at once, because I don't know when I will get some next. After some more train rides I finally arrive in Venice. It looks like a nice city – unless you are looking for someone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wanda's POV**

I have failed. I am sitting between my step-sister and Greta in the back of the car that is bringing us to the airport. We are leaving two days earlier than I had thought, so I could not follow through on my plan to run away while I am still in Sokovia. This means I don't know when or if I will ever see Pietro again. I am pretty sure that the people that adopted me somehow found out about my plan; probably my step-sister gave them a hint. Now I will have to get away in Venice. Maybe this is even for the better, because in Venice nobody knows me, so I will not be recognized that quickly and the chance that I have to return to those people is smaller. If only Pietro were here with me…

When the plane goes up I watch the world outside become smaller and smaller, before I pretend to be asleep for the rest of the flight. We are collected by a limousine at the airport and then go to Venice by boat. Our hotel is quite over-the-top, but has a nice view of the sea. I have a few hours to rest before I am stuffed into another fine dress. We are going to visit some rich person. I shortly think about pretending to be sick, but I don't want to miss a chance to eat. That would be stupid when I plan to run away.

A motor boat comes to pick us up at the hotel. I think it will take some time until I get used to being on the water like that, but I somehow like this way of travelling. The boat stops by an enormous antique house and we are received by a butler, who leads us inside. The house is even more luxurious than the one I have been sleeping in for the last few weeks and there are maid-servants standing everywhere. The family that lives here consists of three persons: A harsh-looking man, a woman with a lot of make-up and a boy about my age, who seems to be quite shy. We are led into the dining hall, where I spend the next few hours eating, showing my best behavior and trying not to die of boredom while the grown-ups talk. After a while the boy, his name is Scipio, offer to show my step-sister and me around the house and the garden. As she is busy playing the grown-up we end up walking around alone. "Those parties bore me to death", Scipio whispers as soon as we leave the dining hall. "So… you were adopted?" "Yes, my parents died three years ago, so my brother and I were orphaned since then…" thinking about Pietro makes me even sadder than before, because I am sure I will not see him anytime soon, so I ask him "Do you have any siblings?" At this Scipio snorts. "No, my parents are not the kind of people who are fond of children; I think they rather are a nuisance to them. If they would not need an heir to take over father's company later, I bet that even I would not exist… Sorry, I should not tell you this." He looks down at his shoes, ashamed of his little outburst, and I can't help to feel sympathy for him. "I think I know how you feel… I think I was only adopted so that those people could brag about how charitable they are. They don't care whether I am there or not, whether I am happy, how I am feeling…" I try to calm myself down, as I feel the tears coming up. "Miss Wanda, I am here to inform you and Master Scipio that your family is planning on leaving. You shall both come back at once." One of the maid-servants had appeared in front of us, stopping what could have been the first meaningful conversation I have had for a long time.

The next few days were spent with several sight-seeing tours and boring dinners with other rich people, during which I was mainly ignored. At night I usually lay awake, planning how I would escape those people. About a week after we had arrived in Venice, we were making a trip with one of the gondolas. When I thought that there was no one watching, I stood up and jumped into the cool water of the canals. Luckily, I learned to swim, when I was younger, so before anyone had realized what had happened I had hidden behind a boat that was landed nearby. Until now, nobody had jumped in after me, but my step-mother was loudly swearing at the man driving our gondola, and ordered him to get into water. Of course, neither she nor her husband would risk ruining their clothes – they would order other people to do things, even if it was trying to rescue their oh-so-beloved adoptive daughter. I continued watching them for a while, swam a little bit further away and finally climbed out of the water. The sun had dried my clothes in less than an hour, so I at least was warm. I had taken some money with me, so that I could get myself something to eat, if I had to. But my first goal was to get away as far as possible from those people that called themselves my adoptive family.


	6. Chapter 6

**Pietro's POV**

I had already spent two nights in Venice and I had neither found Wanda, nor had any idea about where she could be. At least I had found a place where we could stay, if I should find her. As I had not that much money or food to begin with, I tried to sneak some bread from a bakery booth. Some old woman realized it though and started to yell, so I ran away as fast as I could until I bumped into two other people, a boy with messy hair and a girl with a long braid. They immediately realized what had happened and beckoned me to follow them, until we were sure that there was no one left following us. Then the boy looked me up and down and started questioning me. "So, you are a thief?" I looked at him. Was I? I just stole something so, this must mean that I am a thief - although that word has a very nasty sound to it. "Hey, answer me!" The boy yelled. "Riccio, stay calm, or people will hear us." The girl now interfered. "Do you have a place to stay?" she now asked me. I shook my head. "I think you can stay with us for a while. My name is Hornet and this is Riccio." "Won't your parents have something against your bringing strangers into the house to live with you?" At this, Riccio snorted. "We don't have any grown-ups taking care of us; we can take care of ourselves!" I shot a questioning look at Hornet, but she just smiled. "So, will you come? Of course, the Thief Lord will have to decide, whether you can stay or not, but usually he doesn't mind." As I did not have anywhere else to go and the prospect of no grown-ups seemed quite interesting, I decided to go with them.

We walked through a labyrinth of houses and canals and stopped in front of an old, abandoned cinema, called _Stella_. I had been to a cinema ages ago, on Wanda and my eighth birthday. It had been smaller than the _Stella_ , but it was a nice memory, even though we were not allowed to watch _Godzilla_ back then.

Hornet knocked at the back-door and another boy opened. Hornet gave him a look. "You can be happy that I am not the Thief Lord, or you would be in quite some trouble now. We didn't make the password up for fun, you know." "Well, you knocked correctly, so…" the boy looked quite ashamed now, so I started liking him immediately. After all, I had received more than one scolding like that from Wanda over the years. "It's okay Mosca, just remember it the next time. By the way, this is Pietro, he might be staying with us for a while." Mosca and I nodded at each other and then we finally entered the cinema. Most of the seats had been removed, but there were still some left. The curtain with the stars on it had been left, too, and some of the machines from the bar, where you could buy sweets. In one corner there were mattresses, each surrounded by some personal things: books, stuffed animals, toys, comics and several other trinkets. This was where I might be staying now. Even though it was neither as clean nor as dry as the orphanage, this cinema had already felt more like home, than the other place ever had.

In the middle of the night, I had just fallen asleep, I was woken by Hornet, who told me to follow her. I put my pullover on over the pajamas I had been handed and went after her. Riccio and Mosca were sitting at the table where we had eaten that evening, but there was another boy with them. He was wearing a long black coat that was far too large for him and had a strange mask lying in front of him. When I approached, he turned around to face me. "So, I heard Hornet and Riccio helped you out of some trouble?" he asked me, with a slightly mischievous grin. I really did not like to think about this stupid incident at the market, even though it brought me here, so I just nodded. "Your name is Pietro? Where do you come from?" the boy now asked. I told him that I was from Sokovia, at which he raised an eyebrow and the other three exchanged glances. "Okay, that is quite a journey. I guess I am right in thinking that you don't have anywhere to go?" Again, I nodded. "Well, you can stay here for a while. My name is Scipio, by the way." Then he turned to the others. "I will bring in some new treasures tomorrow, but please try to get a decent price from Barbarossa this time." "She just laughs at us" was heard from Riccio. "That's true", Mosca added. "She treats us like children." Scipio smirked. "Well, maybe our new friend here can get some more money out of this old hag. I think he should go with you, Riccio. I will see you all tomorrow."

The next night Scipio, the Thief Lord, returned with a bag full of small things made of gold and silver. I did not ask where he got those things, because I had already been told by the others that he very rarely answered these questions. He once more told us to try and get a reasonable sum from that Barbarossa-woman, because he might not be able to bring more things for a few days. So I spent the rest of the night, thinking about ways to sell those probably quite valuable items to a person I didn't know for a good price.

In the morning Riccio and I made our way to a small shop, full of small treasures and trinkets. It belonged to a thin woman, with bright-red hair, who did not look as if she ever laughed. When she noticed us, ordered us to go and wait in her office. I seated myself in front of her desk and looked around. There was almost as much stuff in here as there was in the shop and a door led into what appeared to be a small bathroom. The woman entered and sat down on the other side of the table. "Ah, a new face. So, what are you bringing me today? I hope there are some valuable things in there, I don't like it, when you waste my time." Riccio gave her a dirty look and emptied the bag on her table. Barbarossa inspected the things. "Well… some things are quite good. I will give you 200 euros, for all of this. "200? You can't be serious! This stuff is worth at least a thousand euros!" Riccio looked at me, being quite shocked at my sudden outburst. "I have to say… You have courage… or just an extremely loose mouth that will get you in trouble one day. I will give you three." "Nine." "Four." "Eight" "Alright, I will give you 650 euros, but then you will leave my shop. I don't want to see your face around here again! Oh, and tell your Thief-Lord that I have a job for him. A client may need his help and there will be a lot of money involved. There is more information in this envelope. And now get out of here and be ashamed of pulling so much money out of a poor woman's pocket." I took the money and the envelope and followed Riccio out of the door.

Riccio and I made our way back to the _Stella_ , with Riccio stopping at every window that showed cakes, sweets and other tasty things. Suddenly there was a splash and people started shouting. I ran to the edge of the canal and saw a woman and a man yelling at a _gondolieri_ , and a girl looking a little bit angry to some place on the water. Near one of the boats, hiding from the people on the gondola, I saw her: Wanda. I had finally found her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Pietro's POV**

I can't believe that I have actually found her. Before she can disappear out of my sight, I start pacing to the place where I had seen her in the water. Riccio, whose attention had been fixed on an especially tasty looking cake in the window of the bakery, starts running after me and pushes me, so I almost lose my balance. I manage to catch myself, but I have lost sight of Wanda again. Riccio shoves me. "Where do you think you are going? Making a run with the money?" He is smaller than me but his temperament can be quite scary. "No, I wasn't going to run. If you want to, you can have the money" I reply and hold the money out to him. He eyes me suspiciously. "Then why were you running?" I put the money back in my pocket. "It was – I saw her. I saw my sister." "Your sister? You have a sister?" "Yes, long story. You know, I would love to tell you everything, but I really have to find her now. She can't be that far, yet, and I have to get to her before the other family finds her." Riccio still looks at me as if I were not right in the head, but at least his temper has cooled down a little. "Alright, so how do you plan on finding her?"

 **Wanda's POV**

I have tried to memorize as much of Venice as possible during our sightseeing tours, so at the beginning I had at least a small idea of where I was. Now I stand in a small street between beautiful old houses, far away from the streams of tourists. Hopefully they will start by searching all the places frequented by tourists. Although, coming to think of it – they will probably not look for me themselves, but ask someone else to find me. They will surely not ask the _carabinieri_ , because that might put them in a bad light, which they are very keen to avoid. As I have some money, I will not have to call attention to myself by having to steal – which I am quite happy about, because stealing is something I don't like. So, I am more or less safe for the beginning.

During the late afternoon I buy myself some bread-rolls and an apple from a small shop and start looking for a place to stay during the night. Obviously, I can't just check in at any hotel and every decent person who sees a child roaming the streets on their own at night will probably call the police, so my hiding place has to be somewhere hidden from passing persons. While I am searching, the sky is turning dark and I decide to sit down behind a building with barred windows and doors. Although I try not to, I can't help but fall asleep in front of the building's backdoor.

I have slept for what feels like less than an hour, when I am woken by a boy with very untidy hair, who frowns at me. "What are you doing here? Who told you about this place?" I look at him questioningly, while I get up. "I was just looking for a place to sleep, and this seemed like a good choice, because it is quite hidden from view. But wait - I could ask you the same! What are you doing here, then?" My surprise has given way to annoyance – at the boy, who appears to be quite rude and of course at myself for talking that much. The boy still frowns. "What I am doing here is none of your business, so go away." His voice has gotten louder and I am starting to fear that someone is going to find me here, when the door suddenly opens and a girl about my age steps out. "Riccio, what have I told you about yel-" she stops mid-sentence when she sees me. "Who are you?" the girl now quietly asks me. I am not sure, whether I ca trust this girl, so I decide to say nothing at first. She seems to understand my silence and when she asks me, whether I have a place to stay, I shake my head. "You are the second child we picked up during the last few days, but I guess we will find you a place to sleep, too. It will be much more comfortable than the stairs to our backdoor" she tells me, as she leads me inside and I find myself in a cinema.

 **Pietro's POV**

Riccio and I had searched all the places we could think of, but there was no Wanda to be found. When it started getting dark, Riccio suggested going home, but I couldn't give up yet. I had decided to not go back without her, so I gave Riccio the money and the letter and went back to the point where I had seen Wanda last. She had not been found in the water, and she also was able to swim, so I was very sure that she was alive. So she was either hiding somewhere or – what was worse – she was with her adoptive family again. I hoped desperately that latter was not the case, because then I would not see her again for a very long time – if ever.

I tried to figure out where she might have gone, but there were so many places where she could be, that I just couldn't come to a clear solution. Growing more and more desperate, I sat down in front of the closed bakery, where Riccio had marveled at the cakes in the window earlier. I startled, when I felt a hand on my shoulder, expecting it to be a _carabinieri_ , but it was only a very excited Mosca. "Pietro, come on you have to get home with me now. Riccio has told us everything and – " I cut him off. "Then you know, why I have to stay here." Mosca looks at me, exasperated. "Yes, but you know this doesn't make sense, and if you would listen to me, you would know, that a girl has arrived today, she says her name is Wanda, and she got really excited when I mentioned you!" All this bubbles out of him at an extraordinary speed, and his words only start to sink in slowly, when he shows me a bracelet. "Wanda says that this is the bracelet her brother gave her for her birthday a few years ago. Do you recognize it?" Of course I recognize it. The bracelet with the red flower. Before I can think of something to say, I am on my feet and run, as fast as I can, back to the _Stella_.

Mosca arrives only seconds after me, out of breath, just like me. I knock and tell Hornet the password. When she finally opens the door, I storm in and there, in the middle of the room, in one of Hornet's pyjamas, stands Wanda.


	8. Chapter 8

**Wanda's POV**

After the girl, who introduced herself as Hornet, had led me inside the abandoned cinema, she turned around to the boy who had found me. "Where is our newbie?" She asked him. The boy named Riccio shrugged. "He said something about wanting to find his sister, we searched all day for her and he is now waiting at the place where he had seen her earlier. He didn't want to come." Another boy, with dark skin, joined us. "He has a sister? He never told us." This was quite strange. Could it be that this boy looking for his sister was Pietro? And that he was looking for me? If so, how long had he been here? I turned to Hornet. "This boy, you are talking about, what is his name? Is he from Venice?" I asked her quietly. She looked at me questioningly. "His name is Pietro and he is from Sokovia, why?" I clasped a hand over my mouth, trying to keep calm and prevent an emotional outburst. Now, all three were looking at me. If those really were Pietro's new friends, I could trust them. "Okay, it might be, no, it is very possible, that this boy you have taken in is my twin-brother. Our parents died some years ago and we were separated when I was adopted by a rich but nasty family. They wanted to separate us forever, so I decided to run away, as soon as possible and now here I am and by a very lucky chance you know my brother, who is outside looking for me. Riccio, can you take me to the place where he is waiting?" I asked the younger boy. Hornet looked at me apologetically. "If he really is your brother, and you really ran away it might not be the best idea to run around at night. Maybe one of the boys can go and get him, though." I shook my head. "I know him. He wouldn't come here, if he wasn't a hundred percent sure that I was here." "Don't you have something like a code or something how we can prove to him that you are here, safe with us? This way we might get him to come here. And it wouldn't harm to know your name, too", Mosca suggested. I considered this. It actually might work. "My name is Wanda and yes, there might be something: my bracelet. He gave it to me on our birthday and I have always carried it with me since then. He will recognize it." Mosca nodded and I handed him the bracelet. After Riccio had explained to him where Pietro was probably waiting, he was off and I was left feeling as hopeful as I hadn't in months.

As Hornet and I were about the same size, she handed me one of her pajamas and I changed out of my fine but slightly dirty clothes. She also offered me a cup of hot chocolate, but I was too excited and nervous to eat or drink anything. Instead I paced up and down the cinema, taking in all the little details: The curtain with the stars on it, the sleeping places that everyone had designed to their own taste, even the occasional mouse stretching its nose out of a hole in the wall. Even though it was an abandoned cinema, this place had a far more homely feeling to it than the house of my adoptive parents. If Pietro really would come, I wouldn't mind staying here.

A knock on the backdoor ripped me out of my thoughts and a second later my brother was standing in front of me. He had changed a little, he had grown thinner and taller, but it was definitely Pietro. Tears of joy welling up in my eyes, I ran into his arms and we share the first hug since a very long time. Finally, we are together again and I am determined that nothing and no one shall separate us ever again. I only let go of Pietro, when his stomach gave off a loud grumble. He looks at me, sheepishly, and I know he hasn't eaten anything all day. Even though it was late, Mosca cooked up some of his famous spaghetti and we all gorged ourselves until even the last noodle was gone. I put up my mattress next to Pietro's and we both slept as sound as a rock.

The next morning we talk about what to do next. At first I was a little bit shocked, that the other children lived off stolen goods, but as they had taken so much care of me, I didn't say anything.

Two days later the leader of the group, the Thief Lord, came around. He reminded me of another boy, but I couldn't quite remember where I had seen him before. I learned that there had been a letter on the day of my arrival, in which details to a job for the Thief Lord were mentioned. The person, calling himself Conte, wanted to meet him at a church, the basilica San Marco, where he would give him further instructions, if he accepted. We would all come along, but only Pietro and Mosca would go inside with the Thief Lord to meet the Conte.

Hornet, Riccio and I were waiting in front of the basilica, when I realized a man was watching us. I pointed him out to Hornet, who looked slightly alarmed. "His name is Victor, he is a detective", she explained to me. A detective? Was he perhaps looking for me? When I looked back at the place where he had been standing, he was gone, but the uneasy feeling stayed all the way back to the _Stella_.

The boys had received a basket and an envelope from the Conte. The basket contained a dove, which we should send back to him, when the job was done. The job was to steal a wooden wing from the house of a woman. Everyone was really excited at the prospect of this new challenge, but first we had other problems to cope with.

When Hornet and I had returned from buying food, we found the man from the basilica studying the entry to the _Stella_. So my feeling of him being after me might have been correct after all. Hornet and I hid in a narrow alley between two houses. "This is the man from the basilica, the one that was watching us. The detective! What are we going to do now?" I asked Hornet. She gave me a sly grin "We will make the old ladies over there take care of him." Before I knew what she meant with this, she walked up to him and started crying and yelling, "I don't want to go with you, leave me alone, no, I don't want to go with you" while trying to get away from the man. Her plan was successful: The women from across the street went at the detective, hitting him with their handbags and yelling at him. Hornet and I slipped past the chaos and went to the backdoor by another way.

The boys, especially Pietro were quite worried, when we told them about the man. Hornet had stolen his wallet in which we found a card of my adoptive father. So, now we were sure that he was looking for me. I felt bad at once. "I'm sorry that I might have got you all in trouble. If you want to, I can go, that way you at least are safe…" I suggested. "Nonsense" was the response from all sides, "you stay here with us and we will develop a plan."


	9. Chapter 9

**Pietro's POV**

The cinema was dark and I could hear the breaths and occasional snore from the other children. They were all fast asleep, even Wanda, but I had been lying awake for hours. Some days ago, this detective had shown up. Ever since then neither I nor Wanda had left the cinema, fearing that he might actually find her and take her away again. I don't know what would happen if anyone ever _did_ force her to go back to that family – I only know that it would not be good for her at all. So I have to do what it takes to make sure that this never happens. But how? We could try and leave Venice, of course, but where should we go? We don't have any money, we can't go back to Sokovia, and when the winter arrives we will probably freeze to death when we are outside. No, our only option is to stay here as long as the other children and the Thief Lord will let us. And this might be a little longer when I helped them steal the wing, even it might not please Wanda.

The next morning I told Wanda about my new insight. As I had expected, she was not really happy about me stealing anything, but I managed to convince her, promising her that I would be careful, as she didn't want to lose me again.

Later that day Mosca, Riccio and I went to have a look at the house of that woman, Miss Spavento, who had the wooden wing. We had been standing around for a while when a woman with a little dog and a bunch of shopping bags came up the street, heading for the house. "Watch and learn" said Riccio with a grin, as he ran straight at the woman, nearly collapsing with her and causing her to drop the bag with the oranges, which of course tumbled all over the street. "I am very sorry, Signora", we heard him say in his most innocent voice, "let me help you collect the oranges and carry the groceries home." He said, while he ran around, trying to collect all the scattered oranges. The woman was perplexed, but did not object, and so Riccio went straight into the house we had been observing. Some minutes later he came out with an ice-cream in his hand and a mischievous grin on his face. "The lock is easy to pick and the woman lives alone. The woman with the groceries was the housekeeper and the dog belongs to her, so neither she nor the dog will be present when we come here at night. Now we can only wait for the Thief Lord to come by for a visit, so that we can tell him the good news." Riccio said, while taking large bites from his ice-cream.

When we arrived at the cinema neither Wanda nor Hornet were anywhere to be seen. Worried that something might have happened to them, I called out and got an answer from one of the old cinema toilets. I ran there and found Hornet trying to hide Wanda, who wore something like aturban on her head, behind her, both looking rather excited. I must have made a very dumb face, because both of them started laughing when they saw me. "I'm sorry", said Wanda, still giggling, "but you should have seen your face. If we had been unicorns you could not have looked more surprised." This brought another giggle from Hornet. "So, what are you doing here, then?" "You'll see when we are finished" answered Hornet and both started giggling again. Still wondering what they were up to, I went back to the boys.

"May I present: My new sister!" said Hornet and out came Wanda, only that she looked quite different. Her hair was darker – almost black - and shorter, and it had the same cut as Hornet's. The sun had given her a darker skin-tone and as both girls had light eyes, they easily could be passed off as sisters. All of us looked a bit astonished, which made the two girls smirk triumphantly. "It was Hornet's idea." Wanda piped up, "she said that if we already have twins here, she and I can act as twins, too, especially because we are the same size and the same age." I had to admit that they really looked quite alike, and just wanted to compliment Hornet on her idea, when there were urgent knocks on the backdoor. Worried, I looked at Wanda, who looked back at me with terror in her eyes. Without her saying it, I know what she thought: They have found me. Mosca went to the door to look who was there and the rest of us was led to a secret entrance by Riccio, so that we could escape if the police really was there. Luckily, it was only Scipio – but not in his usual dark coat, but in neat trousers and a fine sweater. Still catching his breath, he looked at us all. "You have to leave! Now! The man, the detective that followed you is coming here! You are no longer safe!" Of course everyone ran around, gathering as many of their few belongings as possible. I felt Wanda squeezing my hand. "Don't let them take me away from you again" she pleaded, tears already welling up in her eyes. "Don't worry, I will take care of you.


	10. Chapter 10

**Wanda's POV**

When our unwanted visitor had been announced, I tried really hard to control myself and not give in to the panic I felt rising up in me. I didn't want to go back to that family, especially not after finally having found my brother again. Pietro saw what I thought and squeezed my hand, as if to assure me, that we would not be separated again.

Around us everyone was hurrying to collect their most treasured possessions, when Hornet suddenly exclaimed "Stop, everyone. We will not be going anywhere. I have an idea." She quickly explained her plan to us and, although we all felt a little uneasy, we decided to follow through on her plan.

When that detective entered the cinema, I was standing alone in front of the curtains, trying not to show how scared I was. "Hey there! You must be Wanda!" said the man, trying to be friendly, when he saw me. I looked at him with as much defiance in my eyes as I could gather. "I know why you are here and I know who sent you. You can tell my so-called family that I will never go back to them." At this, the man sighed. "I know that it can be hard to settle in a new family, but it is not good for a child to live alone on the streets. So, either you come along by yourself, or I will have to make you, which I actually don't want." "As I said: I will not go back to them! Good luck with trying to make me!" I snorted. It worked. He walked in my direction, shaking his head. Just before he reached me, I dived behind the curtain and out jumped the boys; knocking the detective down and tying him up like a parcel. The Thief Lord put a piece of cloth in the man's mouth and together the boys carried him into a backroom.

I did feel a little sorry for the man, when I saw him lying there on the cold, hard floor, but I knew that if we let him go, it was only a matter of time until I would have to go back to those awful people. Unless, I could convince him to not force me to go back.

At night, when everyone else was asleep, I sneaked down to talk to the detective. I was quite surprised to find Pietro already sitting there, talking. They both started, when they saw me. "What are you doing here? Go back to bed, Wanda" said Pietro, trying to turn me back towards the door. "I could ask you the same question, Pietro. I want to talk to him" I said and sat down, causing Pietro to desperately ruffle his hair. "I know that the people that adopted me hired you to find me. But please understand that I can't go back to them. They never really behaved like a family to me, and I don't know what I would do, if anyone ever forced me to go back to them, but it is a sure thing that I would always try to get away one way or another." "I know" was the man's reply. "Your brother has told me what has happened, and I really understand that you don't want to go back. You have to understand, though, that you can't live on the street or in an old cinema forever. You have to eat and go to school and what would you do when you or your brother got really ill? You need people that look after you – both of you." "This is stupid" commented Pietro, "we can take care of ourselves. We don't need anyone, as long as we have each other." He went to the door and gestured me to come with him. Knowing that I would not convince Victor the detective right now, I followed Pietro back to our sleeping place and we both tried to sleep.

The next day during breakfast, Hornet was even more quiet than usual. Something seemed to be bothering her, so, when the boys were cleaning the dishes and we put the left-overs away, I asked her. "Oh, it is nothing important, really, I was just thinking… Well, you know I was wondering how Scip knew that we would be having a visitor and how he managed to warn us; that's all. I mean, I am happy that he did get here in time and that our plan worked out, but it is just a little strange. Also that he wore those fine clothes, I have never seen him with any other clothes than the ones he usually wears, and I have known him for years" Hornet answered. Suddenly it hit me and I had a feeling that I knew where I had seen this boy before. "You know, I think you are right and it is weird that he knew about our visitor. Maybe, if my intuition and memory are right, which I hope they are not, I may have even met him before I even knew you. And if they are right, then he is not at all who he says he is" I told Hornet. We decided to tell the boys about our thoughts. As we had expected, Riccio didn't want to hear anything about it and became quite angry; Mosca didn't say anything and Pietro looked alarmed. "You know, maybe we should ask our prisoner how he found us. Then we can maybe solve this puzzle" Mosca finally said.

We decided that Mosca and Hornet would go and question Victor. They returned after a short time, both wearing uneasy expressions. Victor had given them an address and told them that this is where they would find some surprising answers to their questions.

As we all wanted to see what those answers were, that we were promised, we made sure that our prisoner was well tied up and left the cinema through the back-door. The mood during our little walk was tense and no one talked much. Our way led us into the finer area of Venice, which only increased my uneasy feeling. After all, the possibility of meeting my adoptive parents was not exactly low here. I was so busy looking for their faces, so I could hide when I saw them, that I had not realized where we had gone until Hornet said "This must be it!" and pointed at the large antique house on the other side of the bridge. Then I knew exactly where we were. And it was not a good place to be, at least for me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Pietro's POV**

We had been walking for what felt like an eternity, when Hornet suddenly stopped and pointed at a building on the opposite side of yet another one of Venice's bridges. "This must be it!" She exclaimed and I took a closer look at the building. It was quite large and looked very old but well-kept. We moved on and had almost crossed half of the bridge, when Wanda suddenly called me. I turned around and could see that something was not right at all. The others had turned around, too, and now came back towards us.

"What's wrong?" asked Riccio impatiently. Wanda still looked uneasy. "I… I think I remember this building. I think I have been here before with the family that brought me here, so I can't go there, because the people there might recognise me and then they will send me back and also…" She was close to crying now."…also, I think that I know what the answers are that Victor said you would find there." She then told us about that dinner they had been invited to, and that there had been a boy with whom she had talked a bit. He was nice, but she did not remember his name, because she didn't think it was important at that time and they also visited so many people, she lost track of them. "And now I think that the boy I had talked to is Scipio." Wanda finished her story. "Well, then it is time to prove that there is no Scipio in this house" mumbled Riccio, before he stormed off. Mosca gave us an excusing smile and went off after Riccio. "I think you should better stay here until we come back – if you are right and this is the house where you have been, then we should better not risk anything." Hornet added and followed the boys who had almost reached the house.

"Do you think they will kick me out now?" Wanda asked. We had sat down on the edge of one of the canals and were waiting for the other three to come back. I put my arm around her. "No. No, I don't think they would do that. Why should they? If it really is Scipio, who is living in that house, then he is the one that lied to them, not you." "Well, but I could have told them the truth! I mean, I have talked to him, probably, so…" I rolled my eyes and sighed "Do you really think that they would have believed you, if you had told them that their beloved Thief Lord may actually only be a rich boy, just after meeting them? Because I don't." At this she said nothing, which usually was a sign of her agreeing with me.

When Hornet, Riccio and Mosca returned, you could read from their faces that Wanda's memory had been correct: This was the place where the Thief Lord Scipio resided. We walked back to the cinema in silence, where the next bad surprise was waiting for us.

On the table lay a piece of paper which said "The Yalows will not hear anything from me, unless I hear news about a break-in in a certain house". This was too much for Riccio, whom the news of Scipio's true identity had hit hardest. He boxed and kicked against the remaining seats until he sank down in one of them, crying. "I could leave, if that would help you. Then you could go on and get the wing" said Wanda, who had been standing a little away. She looked down, but I knew that she was trying hard not to cry. "Rubbish" called Hornet, "you stay here with us and we will go and get the wing. We need it more than Scipio does." There was a mumbled agreement from Riccio and Mosca, and to my surprise Wanda agreed, too.

"I thought you were against stealing?" I whispered at night, when we had gone to sleep after a lot of planning. Wanda sighed. "I still don't like it, but I will help. They have been so kind to me, letting me stay here in spite of everything, so I want to do something to help them." "But what if they catch us and send you back? Then you might be gone forever and we might never see each other again!" Now she was giggling. "Why are you laughing?" I asked her, bewildered. "You sound just like me. Usually I was the one who told you all these things and now it is just the other way round. I just thought about how ironic this is" was her reply. She was right; I couldn't say anything reasonable against this, so I added "You know, I am twelve minutes older than you." This made us both giggle.

The next day we all slept a little longer, because we would be up all night and needed to be awake. There was only one woman, Ida Spavento, living in that house; her housekeeper left at night with her dog. Just in case, we had organized a nice piece of sausage to calm him down, though. We would climb over the garden wall, which was not too high; then we would enter through the kitchen door, which had an easy-to-pick lock. Once inside the house, we would have to improvise and search the rooms for the wooden wing. With luck, it wouldn't be in the woman's bedroom.

When it turned dark, we checked our equipment one last time, went through the plan once more and made our way to the hopefully empty house.

The house was indeed dark, when we arrived, and we did not have any trouble getting in. We walked through the house together. The wing was not downstairs, so we went to the first floor. Searching our way through the first room without success; we just wanted to enter the second room, when its door opened. I quickly pushed Wanda behind me, so that the person would not see her right away. We all held our breath and eyed the window, but it was too high for us to jump out off.

The person coming out of the door was no unknown person. It was Scipio, wearing his Thief Lord costume, coat, mask and all.

"What are you doing here?" whispered Hornet. "I could ask you the same thing! This is my job, not yours!" came back from the dark figure. "Oh, shut your mouth, Lord of Lies! You don't even need the money, rich boy!" was Riccio's reply. "Yeah, and also thanks for ratting us out to Victor!" added Mosca. Even in the dark I could see that the insult had hit home. "I haven't told him anything! But you would not believe me anyway, so what's the use in telling you the truth." He looked from Riccio and Mosca at Wanda, who had stepped out from behind me, now, and they exchanged a look that seemed to say more than words to both of them. Scipio turned around to walk away, when we all heard the front door slam.


	12. Chapter 12

**Wanda's POV**

There was no way out, except down the stairs, so practically we were trapped. I quickly reached for Pietro's hand and tried to keep calm. Scipio gestured for us to move into one of the rooms closest to us and even though Mosca and Riccio were still quite mad at him, they followed us, too. We were almost all inside the room, when we heard the creaking sound of a floor-board. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" a woman's voice said sharply. Slowly, we all turned around to face her. She was holding a rifle in her hand, which she quickly lowered, when she saw that we were a bunch of children. "You are quite young to break into other people's houses. So what are you doing here? Do your parents know you are here?" Her voice sounded much friendlier now. "They don't have any parents. And it is my fault that they are here, so if you are going to call the carabinieri, please let the others go." Scipio had come to the front of the group and taken off his mask. I could see that the woman was thinking really hard about what she should do now. Finally, she shook her head. "How about this: We all go downstairs now, I make you all cups of hot chocolate, a huge cup of coffee for myself, and you tell me the whole story." We all hesitated, but eventually all of us were placed around the woman's kitchen table.

When we all had cups full of steaming hot chocolate in front of us, the woman, who had now introduced herself to us as Ida Spavento, again asked us what we were doing in her house. "We were looking for a wing - a wooden wing" Hornet finally answered. Ida looked surprised. "Do you know anything about the wing?" We all shook our heads. "It is at least a hundred and fifty years old and it belonged to a merry-go-round once. A rich merchant gave it to the orphanage of the Merciful Sisters. It was a beautiful thing and it had five figures on it: A unicorn, a mermaid, a merman, a seahorse and a winged lion. Not long after the merry-go-round had been finished, rumours started spreading around Venice, that there were magical things happening in the orphanage. That children, who rode the merry-go-round would come off as adults and adults would turn into children again. Unfortunately, only a few weeks after these rumours started, the merry-go-round was stolen. The children were on a day-trip and when they returned, the front gate had been forced open and the merry-go-round was gone. The only thing left was the wing."

"And how did you get it?" Scipio asked when Ida had finished her story. "Well, I found it in the attic one day, while I was playing. When I left, I was allowed to keep it" she smiled. "So, you are an orphan, too? You grew up in the orphanage?" Riccio asked excitedly, which made Ida chuckle. "Yes, I grew up in the orphanage of the Merciful Sisters. I still visit them occasionally, and they are still quite fond of me. But you still haven't told me the whole story. What do you want the wing for? And how did you hear about it? Don't worry, I am not going to call the carabinieri, I am only interested in who would lead children into such a mess." Riccio, Mosca and Hornet exchanged glances, trying to decide, whether we could trust Ida enough to tell her about the whole mission. Finally, Scipio broke the silence, making Mosca sigh. "We are to steal the wing for a man who names himself the Conte. In exchange, he will pay us 20.000,00 Euros. We don't know what he needs it for, or who he really is, but he will tell us where we shall exchange the wing against the money, when we have it – well that is, if we had gotten it."

Ida looked at all of us rather thoughtfully. "You know what? You can tell that Conte that you have the wing." She finally said, causing us to stare at each other in disbelief. "There is one condition, though: I will come with you, when you hand the wing over." Everyone was looking at Scipio now, who nodded. "Yes, we can do that, but you will have to stay hidden. Otherwise we might get in trouble and not get anything." "Well, that's settled then. And as I probably feel as tired as you, I think it would be the best if we all caught some sleep." We all agreed on this and so Scipio went back to his house and the rest of us returned to the Stella, where everyone fell asleep quite soon – except for me. I thought back to the events of the last hours. From the unmasking of Scipio to our failed break-in that turned out much better for us than it had looked, so much had happened. It was lucky that Ida Spavento was such a nice woman, otherwise we might all be sitting in cells or an orphanage right now. Or, in my case, with the people that adopted me, which in my eyes was worse than any prison cell. Thinking about them made me think of Scipio, and of that evening when this boy had told me how unwanted he had felt at his home, just like I did with the other family. The others didn't know about his situation but would it have changed anything? He lied to them - to us - after all, so it is quite understandable, that they are angry at him. I don't know what I would have done in his situation; the only thing I know is that I do feel sorry for him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Pietro's POV**

Two days after we had sent the Conte the message that we had the wing, we were to call at Barbarossa's shop, because that was where we would get the exact date, time, and place, where we would give the Conte his wing and he - hopefully –us a lot of money. We went all together, except for Scipio, of course, who would be informed by Ida. That woman seemed to like us, considering that we broke into her house at night. Which could not be said about the woman whose shop we were about to enter.

Ernesta Barbarossa was just talking to some tourists, trying to sell them a sugar- tong we had sold her for about five times as much as she had paid us for it. When she noticed us, she made a gesture with her head that told us to go and wait in her office. Some minutes later, she appeared with the frown on her face, which I thought never went away. Did this woman know how to have fun?

"So, you have come to sell me something again? No? Is the Thief Lord on a vacation and didn't care to take you with him?" She sneered at us. "You know very well why we are here, so stop being so stupid and just give us the letter!" exclaimed Riccio, whose bad mood was bigger than his fear of the red-haired woman just then. Barbarossa let out a faked gasp. "How dare you talk to me like this. You really have no manners, do you? And who are you, girl?" She asked, turning from Riccio to Wanda. "She is none of your business. Just give us the letter and we will go." I said, stepping in front of my sister to block her from view. The woman looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Very well, you can have your letter. But you all better think about how you talk to me, otherwise I will not be buying anything from you anymore. And now get out of my shop."

When we had returned safely to the _Stella_ Mosca opened the letter, while we all gathered around him. "We shall meet him tomorrow on the lagoon at midnight. He will put a red light on his boat, so that we can recognize him. That sounds okay so far, but how are we going to reach him on the lagoon? It would be too dangerous in my boat." "Ida has a boat. Maybe we can use that, especially because she is coming with us." I suggested. "Well, we need to tell her everything anyway. I am only glad that she will inform Scipio somehow, because I am not too fond of knocking on his door again." Riccio said with a shudder, remembering how he had been yelled at by Scipio's father.

After we had returned from Ida's – with full bellies, because her housekeeper just _happened_ to have made too much lasagna, we all relaxed a little: Hornet buried her nose in one of the well-read books she had piled around her bed; Riccio flipped through some of his comics; Mosca worked on some old radio he had found somewhere and Wanda and I played a game of cards. "So, what I wanted to ask you: How well do you know Scipio?" I asked after I had lost the round. "Not very, why?" My sister answered with an inquiring look. "Oh well, I don't know, the look between you and him, when we were raiding Ida's house…" I teased, making her put down her cards and giving me the look I always got, when I had said or done something that seemed stupid in her eyes. "I am not in love, if you are thinking something like that! It was just… I could feel how he was feeling, when everyone was mad at him, because I think that his family is not very different from the people that I ran away from and I think that Hornet, Riccio and Mosca, and maybe also we, somehow were his true family for him, and he hated the thought of losing the people which he felt he belonged to. I know how that feels like, and it is not a nice feeling, and so I felt sorry for him, that's all." With a sly grin she added "Also, boys my age are just stupid and weird." "Well, then I am lucky to be twelve minutes older, and much wiser than you." I answered. She raised an eyebrow. "Well, wise boy, how come you just lost another round?" I had not seen that coming.

The next day we were all meeting up at Ida's place to plan for the night. As we were so many people, we would not all fit on the boat, meaning that someone would have to stay at home. "Well, I certainly won't stay!" Riccio said and gave us all dark looks. "I don't mind staying home, I am not too fond of going out on the lagoon at night, anyway", volunteered Hornet. I looked at Wanda and somehow had to think about this Barbarossa-woman's interest in her again. "I think you should stay home, too. I have a very bad feeling about you coming along. Maybe it is nothing, but I would rather not risk losing you." I said, and although I could see that my sister was not too fond of the idea of staying behind, she trusted my feeling as much as I trusted hers: Whole-heartedly.

The rest of the day went by quickly and soon it was time to go. "Take care" I said and gave my sister a hug. "You too." She answered, looking clearly worried. "Oh well, you know, I am tw –OW!" Wanda had poked me in the side with her finger and was chuckling now. We hugged one last time and then we were off to the place where we would meet with Scipio and Ida.

It was quite cold and a bit windy, but not too much. Scipio drove the boat and Ida was hidden beneath some blankets, as we were quite sure that the Conte would not be too happy about meeting the owner of the wing. After a while we had left the lights of the city behind us and were surrounded by dark water. Then, we could see a red lantern in the distance. That must be the Conte. After some more minutes we had finally reached the place and the old man, now accompanied by an old woman, greeted us. "Good evening! Now, as it is quite cold out here and you probably are freezing just as much as we are, let us get this over with quickly. Do you have the wing?" "Let me see the money first!" Commanded Scipio, which made the old woman chuckle. "Ah, well, he knows his business, this boy. Here, you can have your money." She handed us a large bag, which was immediately inspected by Mosca. "Seems to be all there" he nodded. "Alright, then. Here is your wing", said Scipio, handing the wing over, making sure that it would not drop into the water. Upon receiving the wing, there was a strange gleam inside the old people's eyes, but it might just have been the light. "Thank you very much! I hope you have a safe journey home!" said the Conte before he drove off. We waited a moment, until they were out of earshot, then Ida came out of her hiding place. "I wonder where they are going. Anyone care to follow them?" She asked, and even though we felt a little cold, we wanted to know, whether those old people might actually lead us to the mysterious carousel from Ida's story. So, we followed them at a distance, until Ida suddenly made Scipio stop the boat. "They are going to the Isola Segreta!" BOOM! We heard a gunshot and ducked. BOOM! Another shot followed and the voice of the old woman was carried over to us: "We don't want any visitors here!" Ida had now taken Scipios place and was steering the boat while we all were staying down.

When we had safely reached the city again, Ida hugged us all and apologized about a thousand times. "I really shouldn't have talked you into this! If anything had happened… It would be unimaginable… I am so sorry" she went on, until we finally managed to get on our way back to the _Stella_. The sun was already rising and I imagined Wanda's and Hornet's faces, when we would wake them up to show them all the money we had now. I was torn out of my daydream by Mosca's hand holding me back in front of our door. The door that was now closed by police tape.


	14. Chapter 14

**Pietro's POV**

We entered the cinema by the backdoor, to not disturb the police tape. Even though I knew it was foolish, I just hoped that my sister and Hornet were hiding somewhere and that they would come running at us, the minute they heard us. Of course, the _Stella_ was empty; there was no sign of either girl and suddenly I just felt tired and empty. Looking at Mosca and Riccio, I could see that they felt the same way. After all, I was not the only one who had lost someone. "Do you think the sneak sold us out?" Mosca suddenly asked. "You mean Scipio? If he did, I will kick him so hard that – ""No, of course I don't mean Scipio", Mosca calmed Riccio down. "I meant Victor." That sounded interesting. If anyone could tell me where my sister was, then it was probably him. "Hey, where are you going?" shouted Riccio, when I was almost at the door. "To Victor" was my short answer before I stormed out of the cinema, now with Riccio and Mosca following behind me.

"What is the matter with you?" The sneak greeted us, still half asleep, when he finally opened the door after I had threatened to kick it down. "I want my sister back! And Hornet! That is the matter with us!" He looked at the three of us, shocked. "Why, where are they? What happened?" "Why don't you tell us?" Riccio yelled. "Calm down, boys! I have told Wanda's adoptive parents that she had left Venice and went to Korfu. Apparently, they did not buy it, though. I can find out, if she is with them, if you can manage to be quiet for a few minutes" he said and gave us all a sharp look. I nodded and the three of us sat down while Victor started dialing a number. "Yes, hello, it is Victor Getz, I have new information regarding - " he was stopped midsentence by a loud voice from the other end of the line, which made him hold the phone almost an arm's length away from his ear. When the shouting had stopped, he turned back to face us. I could read from his expression, that what I dreaded the whole time had come true. "So, as it seems your sister was caught last night in your hideout with the girl that stole my wallet. They were taken in by the police, but my clients could not tell me, what happened to the other girl. I am very sorry." Victor spoke out, what we all had read off his face. "Where were you at that time? Why weren't you asleep, as you should be?" He asked us, when his detective senses kicked in again. "We went to hand the wing over to the Conte, and he gave us the promised money in return." Mosca answered and showed Victor the bag that they had brought along, earning him a dark look from a pouting Riccio. Letting out a sigh, Victor opened the bag and looked inside, examining some of the notes. "I hate to break it to you, but this money will not get you anything. It is fake." This was too much for Riccio, who, after giving the bag a hard kick, now sat on the floor with his head in his hands. He showed perfectly well how I felt. "What do you think we could do now?" Asked Mosca, who was the only one trying to stay calm. Victor scratched his head. "Do you have any place where you could stay? You can't go back to stay in the cinema, after all." "We could ask Ida, whether we could stay with her for a few days" came a muffled voice from behind Riccios hands. "Ida? Is that another of your friends?" "Well, in a way I would say, she is a friend – she gave us the wing we exchanged for this bag of waste paper. She is a grown-up though, so you don't have to worry." Mosca explained.

Accompanied by Victor, we made our way to Ida's place. All the time I could only think about how my sister might be feeling now and hoped that she wouldn't do anything dangerous, until I could get her out of this mess. I hated feeling helpless, especially when it concerned people that were important to me.

Ida was still in her dressing gown, when we arrived. Her housekeeper was not there yet, so she scuffled around the kitchen herself, placing hot drinks in front of all of us while getting stern looks from Victor. They seemed to know each other, at least they talked to each other only using their first names. After Victor had lectured her for being so foolish as to drag us along to her adventures ("Actually _we_ dragged _her_ along" interrupted Riccio), we told her everything that had happened. At once she offered us to stay with her, which we gladly accepted, at least for now. "I don't know, whether we can do something about your sister, but I think I know where Hornet is. Does anyone know her real name?" asked Ida. We all shook our heads, but Riccio seemed to have an idea. "I think it might be written in her books. At least I doubt she would write 'Hornet' in there." So we made our way to the _Stella_ for the last time.

Loaded with everything that could not be left behind; we took a last glance at our hideout, before we marched back to Ida's place. Riccio had been right: Hornet had written her real name, Caterina Grimani, on the first page of her books. Now knowing her name, Ida and Victor devised a plan to get Hornet back. According to Ida, Hornet probably was at the orphanage of the Merciful Sisters, who still knew her from her time there. She and Victor would act as Hornet's worried godparents, who were looking for her, after she had run away from her fighting parents. I truly hoped that this plan would work out, but I only cared about one thing: Getting Wanda back.er _herherrie_


End file.
